In the vampire world there are moroi (living vampires), strigoi (nonliving vampires), dhampir (a halfling born of a relationship between human and vampire), and guardians (dhampir who dedicate their lives to protecting moroi from their evil strigoi cousins).It really is a great premise for a book and I enjoyed that aspect a lot. I wasn't really into the whole "woe is me I'm a teenager" aspect of the book. I guess this book is targeted to young adults and I'm sure the target audience are right into that but when I read that stuff I just want to slap someone.I think for what it is, a book targeted to young adults, it hits its mark and deserves 4 stars. But unlike something like the Harry Potter series, I don't think it will have a wider appeal.